Miss America pageant drops the swimsuits and evening gowns
June 05, 2018 22:01
The Miss America pageant is dropping the swimsuit and evening gown competition and will no longer judge contestants on their physical appearance, organisers announced today.
"We're changing out of our swimsuits and into a whole new era #byebyebikini," @MissAmericaOrg said in a tweet which featured a bikini vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of Miss America's board of trustees, outlined the changes to the 2019 contest on ABC's "Good Morning America." "We are no longer a pageant," said Carlson, who won the 1989 Miss America contest and went on to become an anchor at Fox News. "We are a competition.
"We will no longer judge our candidates on their outward physical appearance," she said. "That's huge." Carlson said that both the swimsuit and evening gown portions of the nearly century-old competition would be scrapped.
"It's going to be what comes out of their mouth that we're interested in, when they talk about their social impact initiatives," she said of the contestants from all 50 US states.
Carlson has been a champion of the #MeToo movement combating sexual abuse and harassment by powerful men in business, entertainment and media.
The 2019 Miss American competition will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September 9 and air on ABC.
Image: Nina Davuluri competes in the 2013 Miss America Pageant
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